More than 20 people died after a boat carrying migrants sank near Istanbul on Monday , Turkish officials said .

Seven survivors and 24 bodies were pulled from the water , the semiofficial Anadolu news agency reported .

Twelve children were among 43 people on board the boat , which sank in the far north of the Bosphorus , near the Black Sea , Anadolu reported .

Nine people were carrying Afghan passports , Anadolu quoted Turkey 's Transport Minister Lutfi Elvan as saying .

`` Search and rescue operations are underway to find unaccounted people , '' Elvan said .

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A local fisherman told Anadolu the dead and survivors had been wearing life jackets .

The Bosphorus is a strait that runs through the city of Istanbul , dividing Turkey 's Asian and European shores and linking the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea .

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Seven survivors and 24 bodies pulled from water , Anadolu news agency reports

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12 children were among 43 people on board the boat

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Nine were carrying Afghan passports , Turkey 's transport minister tells the agency